Buoyant article



J. B. NEWHARDT Dec. 25, 1945.

BUOYANT ARTICLE Filed June 24, 1940 FIGJ Fl G.2

FIG.3

INVENTORI Patented Dec. 25, 1945 Joseph B.

half to Newhardt, Berwyn, Ill., assignor of one- Charles H. Angeli,Danville, Ill.

Application June 24, 1940, Serial No. 342,065

3 Claims.

The invention is concerned with improvements in articles of manufactureof the class which are buoyant in liquids such as water and are intendedto float in an upright position with a substantial portion of thearticle above the surface of the water. The improvements provided by theinvention are particularly well adapted for use in such articles asdecoy waterfowl and children's toys which resemble animate objects andwhich float.

One of the primary objects of the invention is to provide an article ofthe 'class described possessing the high degree of stability orequilibrium, particularly in rough or choppy Water.

Furtherobjects of the invention are to provide an article of this classwhich is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, light in weight, ruggedand easy to transport.

An outstanding feature of the invention is the reentrant or concaveshape of the bottom of the article. This I have found lends buoyantarticles, such as decoy water fowl, for example, exceptionally goodstability even in-rough water.

It is common practice to weight decoys, this having heretofore beennecessary in order to prevent them from rolling on their sides whenstruck by a breeze or when the surface of the water upon which theychoppy. Decoys having a concave, bottom, such as provided by theinvention, do not require weights and ride upright with greater ease andstability than conventional decoys having weighted flat bottoms. Thisconcave bottom construction is likewise advantageous in childrens toysand the like which simulate fish, waterfowl, frogs and other animateobjects and are intended to float in water. It applies alike torelatively small articles of this class intended for use in bathtubs,wading pools and the like, as well as floats for use at the swimmingpool or beach and sufliciently large and buoyant to permit a child toride thereon.

Another advantageous feature of the invention resides in constructingthe article of such materials as soft rubber, waterproofed or rubberiredfabric or the like. Preferably, structed of soft rubber or the like thearticle is hollow with walls of such thickness that they may becollapsed but possess sufflcient resilience that they will return totheir intended shape in normal service without the use-of internal airpressure or the like. This makes it possible to materially reduce thebulk of the article for transportation and storage and materiallyreduces or eliminates breakage. Such construction is of maare floatingis rough or when conterial advantage, for example, in decoys which, asconventionally constructed of wood, are bulky to transport and, unlesscarefully handled, are subject to breakage, particularly at the neck.Wooden decoys may also-become waterlogged if not properly protected.

The collapsible construction is also cooperative with the concavebottom. With these two features, the article may be collapsed to expel alarge portion of the air from the space beneath the concave bottom and,when allowed to expand with the edgesof the concave bottom held beneaththe surface of the water, a partial vacuum is created which holds thearticle firmly upright in the water. Some water will, of course, beforced from the surrounding body thereof up into the low pressure spacebottom, making the water level in this zone high er than that of thesurrounding body of water and/or causing the article to seek repose at asomewhat lower level in the surrounding body of water. This additionalwater is held in position beneath th concave bottom and acts as ballast.Water thus drawn into this space does not constitute added weight Orballast" in the sense that this phrase is used in the appended claims.It there refers to weight built into or suspended from the body of thearticle for the purpose of stabilizing or assisting to stabilize thesame, or ballast disposed within the body as in the hold of a ship.

Although soft rubber, a rubber-like composition or other materialpossessing similar characteristics is preferably'employed to constructarticles of the type provided by the invention, they may within thescope of the invention be made of wood, compressed cellulosic material,such'as papier-mach, pressed fibre board or the like, or of syntheticresins, preferably those of the thermoplastic variety, and may be eitherhollow or of substantially solid construction. The material employedmust either be non-hydroscopic, at least to a degree which will preventthe article from becoming water-logged, or the article may be surfacedwith a coating of waterproof material, such as, for example, shellac,spar Varnish v or one of the many waterproof paints, such as thosehaving a bitumastic, synthetic resin or latex base.

The accompanying diagrammatic drawing illustrates a decoy duck embodyingthe features provided by the invention. It will be understood,

or course, that the invention is not limited to decoys but contemplatesother articles of the within the concave general class above mentionedembodying some or all of the features provided by the invention.

Figure 1 of the drawing represents a longitudinal section of the decoyduck. Figure 2 represents a front view of the decoy illustrated inFigure 1.

Figure 3 illustrates the approximate shape of V the decoy whencompressed or flattened for shipment or f r xp g air from the Spacebeneath the concave bottom.

Referring to the drawing, it will be noted that this particular decoy ishollow in construction. The relatively thin walls, which are designatedby the reference numeral I, are of rubber compound -or similar.resilient material and may be cast,

' its shape in service without resorting to the use of superatmosphericinternal pressure or inflation.

Preferably, a small opening is provided through the wall at some pointabove the water level to equalize the air pressure inside the body withthe atmosphere. Such an opening, indicated at 2 in Figure l, is providedin the case here illustrated on the under side of the bill 3 but it may,when desired, be disposed at any point in the head, tall or back. Thispermits air to be forced from the interior of the decoy by pressingagainst its sides, forcing it to assume the approximate shapeillustrated in Figure 3. Thus, it may be made to occupy a relativelysmall space for packing and transportation.

The decoy is provided with a reentrant or concave bottom 4 whichpreferably is of relatively large area and extends well up into thebody, as illustrated. When the decoy is placed on the water its loweredges 5, where the walls of the concave bottom meet the side and endwalls, extend beneath the surface of the body of water in which thedecoy is floated, sealing the space beneath the concave bottom from theatmosphere. This causes the decoy to ride upright or on an even keel andobviates the tendency, common to fiat bottom decoys, to keel over orroll on one side or the other when they are not weighted.

Although unnecessary in most instances, even greater stability in thewater maybe achieved with the concave bottom decoy illustrated byflattening it to approximately the shape illustrated curate explanationof what actually occurs but the benefit of the concave bottom, when thusused, is immediately evident when it is attempted to lift the decoyvertically from the surface of the water since considerable force isrequired to accomplish this. I

A suitable anchoring lug 8 having an opening 9 provided therethrough ispreferably provided atone or at each end of the decoy adjacent thebottom edge 5. These lugs, in the case here illustrated, are formedintegral with 'and are of the same material as the wall I but they maycomprise lugs, eyes, snaps or the like of metal or other materialattached to the decoy in any convenient manner. These anchoring lugs arenot intended for the attachment of weights to stabilize the decoy or actas ballast, since this is not required, but simply provide a means ofsecuring or anchoring the decoy in a fixed location so that it will notfloat away in a current or breeze.

There are, of course, many other specific forms of reentrant bottomconstruction which may be employed within the scope of the invention indecoys and other articles of the class above mentioned, but thatillustrated is deemed adequate to teach the practical application ofthis feature of the invention.

The rubber decoy here illustrated is, as previously indicated, adaptedto be readily manufactured by molding, casting or blowing and, whenformed with an exterior mold, the interior surface of the latter ispreferably roughened in a definite pattern to leave a pattern in theouter surface of the decoy which simulates the wings and feathers of aduck. To further impart a lifelike appearance to the decoy, it may bepainted in colors closely corresponding to those of the particularvariety of waterfowl which the decoy is intended to attract or suitablepigments for accomplishing this purpose may beincorporated in thematerial of which the walls are composed. Ordinarily, the basic orpredominant color of the waterfowl's feathers is incorporated as apigment in the latex mixture and its other colors are painted on orapplied with a mask and spray after the article is cured. The eyes and 1bill may be given a natural appearance in the in Figure 3, holding thelower edges 5 beneath the surface of the water and then allowing it toexpand to normal shape. This forces a large portion of the air frombeneath the concave bottom and, upon expanding. water from the surround-I ing body thereof will be forced up into the space from which the airhas been expelled to equalize pressure in this zone. This is showndiagrammatically in Figure 1 where the surface of the surrounding wateris indicated at 8 and the higher water level beneath the concave bottomis illustrated at 1. Water thus enclosed beneath the concave bottom andheld in place by the pressure of the surrounding body of waterapparently acts as ballast. This may not be an entirely acsame manner.This method of treatment is also applicable to toy waterfowl, fish,frogs and other articles of the general class contemplated by theinvention.

It will be apparent that a decoy such as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2may be constructed with walls of relatively rigid, rather thanresilient. material. Also, when desired, it may be of substantiallysolid construction, except for the reentrant or concave bottom, in whichcase the body may be either resilient or substantially rigid material. I

The invention: also contemplates lining the walls of a hollow bodieddecoy, such as shown in the drawing, with gum rubber or the like whichwill flow into a puncture and seal the same. The gum rubber liningmay beapplied to the entire interior surfaceof the'walls or only to theconcave bottom and that portion of the side and end walls whicharebeneath and immediately above the water line when the decoy is inuse. Such treatment renders the decoy shotproof or in other words, willprevent water from leaking in,

through a puncture caused by gunshot, in sufficient quantities to swampor sink the decoy and will. also prevent destruction of the seal,beneath the concave bottom, by gunshot. This treatment isadvantageous-regardless of whether the walls are constructed 0!resilient or'rigid material.

Iclaim:

1. A waterfowl decoy having a substantially hollow body formed by wallsI of material,

such as soft rubber 'composition, possessing sumi cient rigidity toretain the intended shape 0! the decoy without inflation andsufliciently resilient to permit collapsing the decoy when not inservice, said walls including a closed bottom of substantially concavecontourdeiining a space of suillcient size to impart floating stabilityto the decoy without the aid of added weight or ballast;

2. A waterfowl decoy of substantially hollow construction defining-wallsformed of resilient material, such as soft rubber composition, capableof being collapsed and capable of returning to'normal shapeuponequalization of a 3. An article of the class described having asubstantially hollow body defined by walls of resilient materialpossessing suiilcient rigidity to retain their intended shape withoutinflation but permitting the article to be collapsed when not inservice, the bottom wall being substantially concaveand defining a spacewithin said body which is entirely confined when the article isfloatedand imparts floating stability thereto without the use of addedweight or ballast.

JOSEPH B.

